IPCFS: Chapter 109 Part 1

The agents and assistants all stayed outside to wait.

Ji Li and Zhang Ye walked into the audition room side by side, only to find there was something hidden inside of it.

The area of the inner room wasn’t less than 50 square meters, but it no longer had the simplicity of the outer room. It instead simulated a film set.

The blood-stained rock wall had its own coldness, and the ground made of mud was covered with severed limbs and white bones. Strange flowers bloomed from the cracks in the bones.

This was a hell that had been soaked in blood for many years, and it was also the resting place of Chen Yi after he escaped from the gods and Buddhas.

The staff member closed the door to block out all the noise. Director Xu Cheng and the others sat in the row of seats on the very edge of the set.

In addition, there were two experienced cameramen. One was in a fixed camera position, and the other one was set up for follow-up camera positions.

This was to preserve scenes from this audition.

“Have you read through the audition scene?” Director Xu Cheng asked them. “One person will play two roles, and you will have to challenge each other. Is there a problem?”

“No problem,” Xu Yanzhi replied indifferently.

Ji Li nodded while thinking that this audition method was quite interesting.

According to the synopsis of the audition scene:

After Chen Yi descended into the mortal world, his divine power of Buddhism didn’t fade. The bloodthirsty killing he conducted over the past one hundred years also greatly increased his demon power. His cultivation far surpassed the range controlled by the four realms.

The gods and Buddhas panicked after learning the truth. They feared that Chen Yi would kill them and expose their despicable deeds of ‘blood sacrifice of the nation.’ Therefore, they joined hands to open an ancient illusion formation.

They trapped Chen Yi in it and abruptly separated him into two completely different soul bodies so that they would kill each other.

Gods and Buddhas and demons had been at odds with each other since the ancient times.

This scene was essentially a confrontation between the ‘Holy Monk Chen Yi’ and the ‘Demon Monk Chen Yi’. It depended on who could suppress whom.

One person playing both roles meant that they had to capture the two extremes of the same role in a short period of time.

If Ji Li was playing the ‘demon monk’, he could use Zhang Ye or Xu Yanzhi to play the ‘holy monk’ opposite him and vice versa.

Actors would be contaminated by the character’s aura when acting. Whichever side’s aura became weaker and suppressed would basically declare their victory or defeat.

Director Xu Cheng’s audition method was too wonderful.

The opponent in the scene was also a competitor. They needed to not only cooperate but also suppress the other party with their aura.

This situation could stimulate the actors’ desire to win and lose, increasing the tension of the scene.

“I didn’t completely write out your audition lines. You are free to improvise as long as they fit your character’s personality settings,” the screenwriter Lan Lingmeng added.

She was looking forward to this audition more than anyone else. She had spent so long polishing the script of ‘Demon Monk’, and Chen Yi’s character design was definitely the most eye-catching existence.

Chen Yi had to be pure and clean, compassionate to the world and human beings, while also evil and charming, killing fiercely.

Screenwriter Lan Lingmeng felt it was difficult to describe these two attributes with writing.

During filming, the actors had to convert the text into a 3D scene with no sense of contradiction. The difficulty wasn’t easy.

At the project discussion beforehand, all the top executives of the production company decided that if the right actor could be found for Chen Yi, the movie would already be half successful.

Xu Cheng glanced at the time. “I will give you 20 minutes to prepare. There are some filming props on the side that you can use.”

“Yes, Director Xu.”

The three of them responded before starting their preparations. Ji Li quietly walked toward a corner.

He quickly digested the lines in the script and closed his eyes to silently act it out, constructing in his mind the way the confrontation scene might go.

Once there was one minute left, Zhang Ye and Xu Yanzhi were already selecting props. Meanwhile, Ji Li wasn’t in a hurry and just looked around the filming location.

The preparation time flew by.

Director Xu Cheng asked, “Which one of you wants to go first?”

“Director Xu, I want to start first.” Zhang Ye unexpectedly raised his hand, and he glanced at Xu Yanzhi beside him.

Among the three of them, he was the one with the least filming experience, and he had never encountered such an audition before.

It was better to decisively grasp the initiative himself rather than being nervously chosen by others. This way, he wouldn’t be overly stressed and act abnormally.

Xu Cheng smiled appreciatively at his courage. “Okay. Who are you going to pick to act with you?”

“Xu Yanzhi.” Zhang Ye looked at Ji Li apologetically after saying this.

If Xu Yanzhi was really the default male protagonist like Brother Cheng said, then Zhang Ye wanted to make his ‘death’ more clear.

If he couldn’t be compared, then he would definitely be convinced if Xu Yanzhi became the male protagonist.

If he could compare with this person, he wouldn’t feel regret even if he didn’t get the role.

Ji Li accepted Zhang Ye’s apology and calmly stepped to the side. He fully understood the other person’s thoughts.

“Yanzhi, do you agree?” The casting director asked.

Xu Yanzhi seemed to be a person with few words and simply nodded. “Okay.”

The two people quickly determined their respective roles. Zhang Ye was playing the holy monk while Xu Yanzhi played his opposite, the demon monk.

The corners of Ji Li’s lips rose slightly. He had to say that Zhang Ye was very smart.

He understood his own strengths and was one of the few actors who could make it to the second round of interviews with his ‘holy monk’ appearance.

In this round of confrontation, he chose a character image that was beneficial to him. If his temperament was right, then it would appropriately reduce the difficulty of shaping his character.

However, his choice also helped Xu Yanzhi. After all, the other person had a lot of experience in creating ‘evil and beautiful’ characters.

It was just an audition, but Director Xu Cheng made it very formal. The cameras were in place, and the monitor for watching was turned on.

“Action!”

The audition began with this order.

***

Zhang Ye held his hand in front of him while slowly turning the Buddhist beads with his other hands, his calm and fearless eyes fixed on Xu Yanzhi’s face.

“Amitabha, you have committed too many murders, so finish it yourself. If you don’t want to, this monk will send you off with my own hands.”

Light fell and reflected his calm expression more clearly. He really seemed like a holy monk who was detached from the world.

The casting director saw his gesture and instinctively nodded.

He had seen the holy monk appearance of all the auditioning actors. Zhang Ye had the pure and youthful feeling they wanted and was one of the most suitable actors.

Unexpectedly, he was playing the holy monk 100 years later and still looked quite good.

Xu Cheng didn’t express his opinion, and his eyes were subconsciously fixed on Xu Yanzhi’s body.

The other person might be his nephew, but he wouldn’t let him become the male protagonist of the movie by going through the back door.

What Xu Cheng wanted had always been real acting skills.

Soon, Xu Yanzhi made a move.

He imitated Zhang Ye’s posture and stood with his hand in front of his chest. The next second, a sly smile appeared on his face and his seemingly pious face suddenly became a bit wicked.

“Holy monk, I have committed murders with my hands. Do you think you can escape?”

Obviously, he didn’t like to talk, but he completely changed when he was acting.

Perhaps it was due to his knowledge as a child star, but his line skills were very good. The sentence that vaguely emerged between his lips and teeth made people feel creepy when they heard it.

“The five precepts of Buddhism are no lying, killing, drinking and eating meat, stealing, and adultery… I have done pretty much all of them. So I should die?”

Xu Yanzhi took a step forward every time he said a precept. He seemed to be deliberately controlling his strength, and his steps were so light that there was no sound.

Ji Li noticed this subtle movement, and a trace of appreciation appeared in his eyes.

The footsteps were eerily quiet.

He wasn’t like a mortal or a god and Buddha. He was more like a demon who snuck in silently and tried to take a life.

“We are born from the same root. If I should die, what about you?”

Xu Yanzhi stood in front of Zhang Ye and tilted his head slightly, his eyes showing a trace of evil. “Why don’t I watch you kill yourself first? How about it?”

Zhang Ye’s mind was blank, but he pretended to be calm. “What nonsense.”

Xu Yanzhi grabbed the loophole and smiled even colder. “It was never me. It was the gods and Buddhas of heaven? What? Do you want to stand back among them?”

“Don’t forget how the Su Dynasty died tragically back then to help you receive the dao. It was this fact that you couldn’t accept which created me.”

“Over the past 100 years, anyone who has seen me has died. You want to be one of them, don’t you?”

Xu Yanzhi’s aura suddenly exploded, and the yin energy coming from his body made Zhang Ye involuntarily retreat.

He stepped on the ‘white bones’ and it made a loud crunching sound. The flour-based props instantly shattered to powder.

Right now, the winner was decided.

Ji Li’s eyes fell on the powder on the soles of Zhang Ye’s feet, and a light flashed in his eyes.

Xu Cheng shook his head. It was a pity.

To be honest, Zhang Ye’s acting skills had aura. Unfortunately, he lacked experience and couldn’t fully integrate his temperament with the character.

This was a situation that every newcomer couldn’t avoid and it was commonly known as the ‘difficulty to enter the act’

It was like what just happened. Xu Yanzhi’s strong aura caused the scenes of the act that Zhang Ye finally gathered to completely disperse.

Therefore, in the entertainment industry, talent and aura weren’t enough. The accumulation of practical experience was particularly important.

Zhang Ye was still young. He just needed to meet a good director and a good crew and he would be able to achieve something in time.

It was a pity that what Xu Cheng and the crew of ‘Demon Monk’ needed was an actor who could stably enter the act from beginning to end.

Zhang Ye still had a long way to go to improve, and he couldn’t do it for the time being.

Zhang Ye also understood that his role was wrong and bowed to Xu Cheng and the others with some embarrassment. “I’m sorry, teachers. I didn’t act well.”

“Do you want to try again with the image of the demon monk?” The casting director didn’t directly deny it.

Zhang Ye shook his head.

He couldn’t even act the role that was easy to grasp. How could he play the demon monk who was more difficult?

Zhang Ye also knew that his strength wasn’t enough. Rather than forcefully destroying the role, it was better to give up and work harder in private to make up for his shortcomings.

The screenwriter Lan Lingmeng liked Zhang Ye, the handsome boy. “Don’t be discouraged. You didn’t act badly at the beginning. The fact that you are able to perform like this in such a short amount of time is already great.”

Xu Cheng nodded slightly. “Go to the side to rest and watch the performance of the other actors.”

“Thank you, teachers.” Zhang Ye was encouraged and walked quickly to the side.

“Ji Li, Yanzhi, will the two of you act with each other?” Xu Cheng got straight to the point.

“Yes.” Ji Li came out from the corner.

Xu Yanzhi’s eyes met Ji Li’s. “You play the holy monk first? And then we’ll switch it around?”

“No problem.”

This decision was exactly what Ji Li wanted.

He borrowed the Buddhist beads from Zhang Ye’s hands and walked straight to a rock, sitting cross-legged on top of it indifferently.

This seemingly ordinary action made Xu Cheng subconsciously concentrate.

It was because there was a tiny bright light hidden in the grass behind Ji Li. At this moment, the light seemed to surround his body with a layer of golden light.

Before today’s audition, Xu Cheng’s team had spent three days arranging the scene.

In order to reflect the evilness of the demon monk, the ceiling lights in the room were actually reddish, and this was in line with the bloody, dark environment of the cave.

There were only shimmering yellow lights behind this rock and in the grass. This was a small arrangement they deliberately made, and it was a hidden position specially reserved for the holy monk.

The Buddhist school was symbolized by the golden color. Before the Su Dynasty was destroyed, Chen Yi was a holy monk and a noble prince in the hearts of the people.

His nobility came from the inside out.

Ji Li sat up steadily and used the ambient light around him to perfectly assume the external identity of the character.

Xu Cheng’s eyes moved from the monitor to Ji Li, and there was a trace of inquiry.

This kid.

Did he really study the lights of the scene, or did he find it by chance?

“Action!”

---

TL: Advance chapters are available over on my Patreon. You can go check out the details on my Patreon page.

Proofreader: Azure